Tata's Harrier has all the right ingredients under the hood and in terms of sheer rugged capability, it looks the part too, but how does it do on the inside. Find out!

After a year-long wait, the Tata Harrier is all set to be unveiled this December ahead of the media preview drive. Based on the H5X Concept all that broke cover at the 2018 Auto Expo, the Tata Harrier is set to be the first Tata Car to make a debut based on a Land Rover Platform, thus, bringing it front and centre in the focus of the automotive market. Tata Motors too, is more than happy to flaunt this association with their official tagline “Born of Pedigree” pointing to the Land Rover Heritage. An able platform paired to a reliable 2.0 Fiat Sourced Motor, that Tata is calling the Kryotech 2.0, the Harrier is likely to be one of the most capable SUVs in its segment. In fact, it is also likely that the Tata Harrier will come with a terrain response system and a very capable four-wheel drive system. Tata Motors has all the numbers that should, if all goes right, add up to a great car to drive. Leaving the question, “what will it be like on the inside?” hanging uncomfortably in the room. Practicality and comfort, in this market, could make or break a car, and to ensure that the Harrier is not affected by this Tata have gone the extra mile.

For starters, the Harrier will come with dedicated slots for smartphones all around the cabin. Moreover, rear passengers will get dedicated slots on the doors, while there will be a separate one for the middle passenger as well, just behind the front armrest. Speaking of which, the front armrest will get a cooled storage space connected to the rear AC vents. The cooled centre compartment will also be accessible by rear passengers. The Harrier will also feature a cooled glovebox, unlike some of its potential competition. However, whether this feature will be standard or reserved for higher variants remains to be seen. The sunroof, on the other hand, will be skipped altogether.

On the interiors, smart makes all the difference, and Tata has played some unique cards like the smartphone slots. The Tata Harrier will be one of the few vehicles that will come from the factory with a dedicated smartphone slot straight out of the factory. That too, not just for the driver with occupants including those seated on middle row getting access to a slot for their smartphone. That’s the kind of innovation that really gets the juices pumping, it shows that the automaker wasn’t just taking cues from heartless beancounters on what should and should not be included, and rather focused on the customer and what might make their lives simpler. To build on that the Harrier will also feature a cooled glovebox and centre storage, which is something that a lot of the Harrier competitors still don’t have. It's likely this feature will only make it to top trims but that it's still something to look forward too. To up the aesthetic value, the black and beige theme on the interiors along with wooden inserts on the dashboard will help the cabin look and feel more premium. Tata has also assured the generous use of soft-touch materials and plastics to keep with this theme.

Next up, let's talk about the infotainment system. Now Tata’s affiliation with Harman Kardon has always ensured that their systems sound the best but only with Nexon have they started bettering their interface. The floating hexagonal touchscreen infotainment system will continue onto the Harrier although its likely to be a more quality unit than the one on the Nexon matched with the Harman Kardon speaker set (as is the norm).

In summation, once again on paper, the Harrier seems to have the all the right factors to make it a tremendously successful car, that comfortable and luxurious too, it's all up to Tata as to how they put it together. Hopefully, the extensively automated assembly line created with the help of Land Rover will help ensure that this happens.